RNS photo illustration by Kit Doyle
Need to know: Wednesday, March 14, 2018
American Bible Society’s .bible domain policies restrict religious freedom online, critics say
Scholars say the American Bible Society’s limitations on the domain — excluding critics of Christianity and non-Judeo-Christian religions — violate internet freedoms.
The ’Splainer: Why are Catholic bishops backing unions at the Supreme Court?
The bishops’ involvement with Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees prompts the question: Where does this affinity between Catholic bishops and labor movements come from?
Lightning kills 15 worshippers in Rwanda, as government cracks down on unsafe churches
The strike occurred as the Rwandan government continues to shut down houses of worship it deems unsafe and dissenters accuse it of trampling on religious rights.
How Trump Is remaking evangelicalism
A new book shows the fracture lines the 45th U.S. president has created within American Christianity.
Bringing the Sistine Chapel to life, with the Vatican’s blessing
An impresario known for his ceremonies at Olympic Games is recreating one of the world’s great masterpieces. Will the spectacle appeal to tourists and Romans? (Subscription may be required)
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Latest news from RNS
Attention turns to affiliations of mosque-bombing suspects
CHICAGO (AP) — Last year, three men allegedly chose to travel some 500 miles (805 kilometers) from a rural farming town in central Illinois to bomb a mosque in suburban Minneapolis. Why? One suspect reportedly said they hoped to scare Muslims into leaving the U.S.
Pope Francis at 5: Paradigm shift on mercy, migrants and marriage
Francis' first five years have been a dizzying introduction to a new kind of pope, one who prizes straight talk over theology and mercy over morals.
Jerusalem tax spat pits heaven against earth
Leaders of the Holy Land's Christian churches received property tax bills from the city totaling millions of dollars, money the mayor says the city badly needs.
More views from RNS
Catholicism down in Ireland, but some see hope
Readers of Sightings may be aware that we don’t favor reporting only on “declinism,” as in “decline and fall” stories. But it would be no favor to readers, or to reality itself, were we to close our eyes to stories like Maynooth’s.
Should you love your NRA neighbor?
(RNS) — I thought I knew everything about NRA members. Then I met this guy ....
5 years of Francis and his gritty Catholicism
(RNS) — Francis critics have worked themselves into a frenzy because the first Jesuit pope prioritizes discernment and pastoral theology over a one-size-fits-all rigidity when it comes to the application of doctrine, writes John Gehring.
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